I’ve been slightly down on email marketing for the past few months, ever since MediaPost invited me to be an observer at the last Email Insider Summit and then rapidly backtracked when they worked out the cost of my air ticket.

Personal grudges aside (joking - I love you, MediaPost, even if your planning sometimes goes wrong) I think email marketing can be a very useful tool if you’re pitching at people who actually want to receive the stuff you’re sending them.

I recently did this email ad for Barclays Capital. I’m drawing your attention to it for no other reason than I love the artwork, which was done by Jacob at Clarendon. It’s not many graphics guys who, when confronted with a copywriter request for a “cute, animated squirrel”, are not only completely unfazed but get the job done, too.